Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSACTING SALES OF HOME
FURNISHINGS IN A NON-RETAIL ENVIRONMENT
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 to U.S. Provisional
Patent
Application Serial No. 60/606,628, filed on September 2, 2004, and entitled
"SYSTEM
FOR SELLING HOME DECOR AND OTHER PRODUCTS THAT DOES NOT
RELY ON TRADITIONAL RETAIL CHANNELS," and to U.S. Utility Patent
Application Serial No. , filed August 31, 2005, and entitled "SYSTEM
1o AND METHOD FOR TRANSACTING SALES OF HOME FURNISHINGS IN A
NON-RETAIL ENVIRONMENT", the entire contents both of which are hereby
incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to a system and methodology for
selling
home decor and other products to consumers.
BACKGROUND
It can be appreciated that furniture and other home decor products have been
sold to consumers for many years. Typically consumers have had three channels
through which they could purchase furniture and decorative accessories -
retailers,
catalogues or designer showrooms (the latter is only available as a choice if
the
consumer has an interior designer working with them since consumers are not
allowed
to make direct purchases from designer showrooms). With the recent emergence
of the
internet, a fourth choice has emerged - buying furniture through internet web
sites. In
any case, the retail environment for home decor is fragmented into many
separate
channels that are disconnected, competitive and which collectively do not
operate as
one cohesive unit. One significant result is that sales commissions are
calculated many
times, for different amounts and are paid by many disparate bodies to multiple
sales
people at multiple points in the channel. This results in the different
channel
participants competing with one another for sales as well as for commissions
and is an
inefficient way to manage the sales channel and sales commission process.
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SUIVIMARY
In a general aspect of the invention, a method of selecting an item of home
furnishings displayed in an accommodation includes the following steps. An
identification associated with one of a plurality of accommodations is
accepted from a
user. The furnishings displayed in the identified one of the plurality of
accommodations are determined. Information identifying the displayed
furnishings to
the user is displayed. A selection of at least one of the home furnishings is
selected
from the user.
In another general aspect, the invention relates to a computer program product
residing on a computer readable medium for allowing a user to select an item
of home
furnishings displayed in an accommodation. The computer program comprises
instructions to cause a computer to a) accept from a user an identification of
one of a
plurality of accommodations, b) determine the furnishings displayed in the
identified
one of the plurality of accommodations, c) provide display information
identifying the
displayed furnishings to the user; and d) accept a selection from the user of
at least one
of the home furnishings.
In still another general aspect, the invention relates to a system for
allowing a
user to select an item of furnishings displayed in one of a plurality of
accommodations.
The system includes a memory storing information relating to the furnishings
and each
of the plurality of accommodations. The system also includes a computing
device,
operably connected to the memory; and configured to a) accept from a user an
identification of one of the plurality of accommodations; b) determine the
furnishings
displayed in the identified one of the plurality of accommodations; c) provide
display
information identifying the displayed furnishings to the user; and d) accept a
selection
from the user of at least one of the home furnishings. The system further
includes a
display for displaying information identifying the displayed furnishings to
the user.
Embodiments of these aspects of the invention may include one or more of the
following features.
The method, computer program product and system further includes conducting
at least a part of a commercial transaction between the user and a supplier of
the at least
one of the home furnishings. A commission for each of a plurality of parties
(e.g., the
hotel partner, marketing partner, designer, and manufacturer) associated with
the
commercial transaction is computed. An identification of one of a plurality of
rooms
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from the selected one of the plurality of accommodations is accepted from the
user.
The plurality of accommodations are owned and operated by different entities.
The
accommodation is a hotel.
Each of the furnishings has an associated product code including a
manufacturer
subcode representative of the manufacturer of the furnishing; a stock keeping
(SKU)
subcode; and a partner subcode associated with the accommodation where the
furnishing is displayed. The product code can further include a designer
subcode
corresponding to the designer associated (e.g., makes or selects) with the
furnishing,
with the computing step further including determining a commission for the
designer.
1o The product code can also include dealer and marketing partner subcodes.
The method, computer program product and system further includes accepting
the identification of one of the plurality of accommodations and accepting the
selection
from the user of at least one of the home furnishings is via a communications
network.
The communications network is the Internet. The identification is associated
with one
or more of a style of the accessory, a type of the accessory, a designer of
the accessory,
a location of the accommodation, and one of the plurality of rooms.
Displaying information identifying the displayed furnishings to the user
further
includes displaying the furnishing in isolation from or with other furnishings
from the
one of the plurality of rooms.
Among other advantages, the method, computer program product, and system
described above allows consumers to experience and purchase furniture and home
decor products without having to spend large amounts of time researching
catalogues or
without making special trips to retail stores or designer showrooms to find
what they
want for their home decor. Consumers can get instant and complete decorating
solutions for their own home while engaging in relaxing activities in places
not
intended for furniture/home decor sales (e.g., hotels or restaurants) where
the primary
purpose of business is clearly something other than furniture sales. Consumers
are able
to purchase any furniture and home decor products that they see in their hotel
or
restaurant (or spa etc), without pressure from sales people and without
uncertainty since
they have already seen and experienced the furniture and decorative products
first hand
(such as in their hotel room) before purchasing them.
In another aspect of the invention, a method for selling a hotel accessory
displayed in a hotel includes receiving a sale order from a consumer for the
hotel
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accessory, the hotel accessory having a product code and determining a
commission for
a hotel partner. The product code includes a manufacturer subcode
representative of
the manufacturer of the hotel accessory, a stock keeping (SKU) subcode; and a
hotel
partner subcode associated with the hotel where the hotel accessory is
displayed.
Embodiments of these aspects of the invention may include one or more of the
following features. Prior to determining the commission, the cost to the
manufacturer
of the furniture item is deducted from the cost to the consumer. The
commission
amount to the hotel partner is deposited (e.g., electronically).
A wait period before moving the commission from a Hold condition to a Pay
condition is established. The product code further includes a designer subcode
associated with the designer that selects or makes the accessory and/or a
dealer subcode
associated with the dealer of the accessory. The determining step including
determining a commission for the designer and/or the dealer.
Among other advantages, the invention makes use of a product code associated
with sold items so that each sale is associated with the particular hotel
where the
product was seen, with the particular design firm that placed it there, with
the particular
dealer who may have sold it and with the particular vendor who manufactured
it. The
invention also automatically tracks and calculates these commissions through a
centralized web based system that ensures that each sales partners who are
part of the
new sales channel automatically receive their respective sales commissions as
a result
of every sale.
The inventions generally relate to providing an innovative service including a
new system and methodology for selling home decor and other products to
consumers.
The inventions do not rely on any of the traditional retail channels or
methodologies.
Rather, a new paradigm and new sales network has at its core, a methodology of
coding
each product so that a web-based, centralized, sales engine can automatically
recognize
each product by its product coding. The product coding automatically
identifies all the
channel partners involved in the product sale and determines what commission
rates are
to be paid to each of them. Integrated into this methodology is the ability to
calculate
the gross margin from each product sale, from which all commissions are then
tracked,
calculated and paid to the multiple channel partners involved with each
product sale.
The methodology provides a service to hotels (or other non-retail
environments) the
ability to sell to their guests, any of the furniture, decorative accessories
or other
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products that are in the hotel and are part of their hotel brand/decor. In
other
applications, the methodology can also be provided as a service to restaurants
and to
any other commercial operation where there are decorative products in their
place of
business but where their primary business purpose is anything but the
retailing of home
decor products.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Figure 1 illustrates the relationship between the major components of a system
for transacting sales of home furnishings in a non-retail environment.
Figure 1 (a) illustrates the main processes in the system of Figurel.
Figure 2 illustrates an expanded view of the major components of the system.
Figure 3 (a) illustrates the primary search processes on the master website
for
users
searching for products.
Figure 3 (b) illustrates the primary search processes using the system.
Figure 3 (c) illustrates the main search pathways that are available to a
consumer using the master website to make a purchase.
Figures 4 (a) through (i) illustrate sample screen shots of a hotel partner
website.
Figures 5 (a) through (h) illustrate sample screen shots of the master
website.
Figure 6 illustrates the four main processes by which a consumer can make a
purchase using the system.
Figure 7 illustrates the process a hotel goes through to become a partner of
the
system.
Figure 8 illustrates the primary components of the product codes.
Figure 9 illustrates the product code methodology for calculating a product
sale
and all of the sales commissions that are owed to all partners.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Turning now descriptively to the figures in which similar reference characters
denote similar elements, the Figures illustrate a system and methodology by
which
furniture and other objects for the consumer or their home that are currently
part of the
decor of hotel partners, can be purchased by the consumer through a master
website.
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A similar process exists for those purchases that are made by the consumer
when they
use the specific shopping site that is created for each specific hotel. The
figures also
illustrate technology and systems that have been designed to support this new
purchasing process including a methodology for coding each product that is for
sale so
that the system can automatically determine the gross margin for every product
sold as
well as the commissions that are due to each hotel, interior designer, dealer
or
marketing partner as a result of these sales. All transactions from all of the
hotel
websites as well as the master website flow through a centralized transaction
processing
engine/system. The figures thus illustrate a number of the perspectives and
processes
that occur on and through these websites including all the links to all of the
parties that
are part of this search methodology and transaction processing system.
Figure 1 illustrates the primary components of the system in which the
Hoteluxury at Home website (referred to as the master website) serves as the
interface
and operating hub for connecting various parties and databases via a
communication
network (e.g. Internet). The Hoteluxury at Home website also serves as the
central
engine for processing and storing all transactions and for storing/accessing
all databases
that are part of the system's operations. The main components in this system
and as
illustrated in this Figure include(i) the hoteluxury.com interface (ii) the
processing
engine where all transactions and databases reside (iii) the interior
designers (iv), the
hotel partners, (v), the marketing partners (vi), consumers (vii) the
manufacturers and
suppliers
Figure 1(A) illustrates the many processes that are part of the Hoteluxury at
Home website's engine/system including but not limited to: a) the
identification,
calculation, tracking and payment of gross margins and commissions owed to
each of
hotel, designer, dealer and marketing partners for each product that is sold;
b) the
process of website searches for products by different search pathways/criteria
including search by style type, product type, room type, hotel type, hotel
name,
designer name, city; c) the tracking of and paying of accounts payable; d) a
complete
ecommerce engine for processing all sales. The system will process all orders,
accept
all payments, connect with all manufacturing vendors, shipping vendor and have
direct
links to credit card processing vendors, customer service, accounts payable
and
receivable, commissions allocation files, customer profile database and will
also
connect to extranets for vendors, hotel partners and interior design partners;
e) tracking
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of vendor pricing and agreements and f) the ability to track all purchasing
patterns and
design preferences of customers and other design related content.
In addition, Figure I(a) illustrates how the many different databases that are
used in the system interact with this transaction processing engine
(manufacturers,
hotels, designers, dealers, marketing partners, products, customers etc.).
Figure 2 illustrates the variety of databases that interact with the
Hoteluxury
website. These databases include but are not limited to a) the relational
database of
individual products for sale including their prices, their style, their
product type and
their photos both as individual products and in the context of the hotel rooms
they are
io found in b) the relational database of photos of all the hotel rooms of
partners hotels (or
other partner establishments); c) the database of customers; d) the databases
of hotel
partners, e) the database of interior design firms, f) the database of dealers
g) the
database of all vendors; h) the database of types of home products that can be
searched
by design style of product, type of home decor product, price point of
product; room
that product tends to be used in, hotel or city that product can be seen in,
and other
databases, such as from marketing partners. The collection and integration of
all these
databases is an integral aspect of the system.
Figure 2 further illustrates how the system provides direct links from the
master
website to each partner hotel's home pages and also provides direct links to
their
"reservations" page. This will allow users who are on the master Hoteluxury
website to
seamlessly make a reservation at any hotel partners whose interiors and
furniture they
saw on the master website.. This seamless and direct connection with all hotel
partners
to facilitate room reservations as well as product purchases is part of the
overall system.
Figure 3 (a) illustrates the basic search process that a consumer would use on
the master website in order to purchase a product using this system
Figure 3 (b) illustrates the basic search process that a consumer would use at
a
hotel partner's website to purchase a product using this system.
Figure 3(c) illustrates a few of the main search pathways that are available
to a
consumer who is using this system in order to make a purchase
Figure 4 (a) through (i) illustrate sample screen shots of what a consumer
would
see as they went through a sample search pathway at a partner hotel's website
in order
to make a purchase (these Figures/screen shots represent just a few of the
many search
pathways and screen shots that user would find when using this system
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For example, Figure 4 (a) Sample Hotel Partner home page screen shot
Figure 4 (b) Screen shot showing sample shopping home page
Figure 4 (c) Screen shot showing next page in "search by
product"
Figure 4 (d) Screen shot showing next page of furniture choices
Figure 4 (e) Screen shot showing next page of chair choices
Figure 4 (f) Screen shot showing specific chair description page
Figure 4 (g) Screen shot showing pop up perspectives of chair
Figure 4 (h) Screen shot showing room shots with the chair
Figure 4 (i) Screen shot of shopping cart if chair being purchased
Figure 5 (a) through.(h) illustrate sample screen shots of what a consumer
would see as they went through a sample search pathway at the master website.
These
Figures/screen shots illustrate just a few of the many available search
pathways
Figure 5 (a) Sample Screen shot of Hoteluxury home page
Figure 5 (b) Sample Screen shot showing "search by style"
Figure 5 (c) Sample Screen shot of 3 "contemporary" choices
Figure 5 (d) Sample Screen shot of contemporary "rooms"
Figure 5(e) Sample Screen shot refining contemporary room
search
Figure 5(f) Sample Screen shot of a contemporary bedroom
image
Figure 5(g) Sample Screen shot of contemporary bedroom
product
Figure 5(h) Sample Screen shot of shopping cart
Figure 6 illustrates the 4 primary processes that a consumer would go through
in
order to make a purchase using this system.
Figure 7 illustrates the process and steps by which a hotel partner becomes
part
of the system.
Figure 8 and Figure 9 illustrate the manner in which each of the products that
are sold on the system have been assigned a multi-part product code so that
the system
can recognize the different parts of the code and automatically assign sales
commissions to the various partners. The system has been designed so that each
product could feasibly have unlimited numbers of codes embedded as a subset of
every
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product code however in most cases there will be 5-6 subcomponents to a
product code.
A typical product code might look like this:
0123. ABC971999. 0001. 0027.000.01 The purpose and importance of each
segment of each product code is as follows:
1. The first thing the system does when a product sale is being processed, is
to
search for the first part of the product code, since this identifies which
manufacturer the
product has come from. In the above example this part of the code is 0123 and
this
number might stand for the ACME company in Highpoint NC.
2. The second part of the product code identifies the specific product or SKU
made by that particular manufacture. In the above example this part of the
code is
ABC971999.
3. Once the system has identified the manufacture and specific SKU, it
automatically searches the databases to find the price for which that
manufacturer sells
us that stock keeping unit (SKU). The system then subtracts this amount from
the retail
price of the product that is posted on the website (and which is also listed
in databases),
which results in the system determining the gross margin on that particular
product.
4. Once the gross margin has been determined, then the system automatically
searches for the third component of the product code which identifies which
hotel
partner the product came from. In the example here, that part of the code
would be
"0001"To do this, the system automatically cross references this part of the
product
code with the data base in which all hotel partner identifier codes are found
along with
each commission rate that is paid to them. Since all commissions paid out are
based on
a percentage of gross margin, it is critical that the system automatically
determine the
gross margin prior to calculating and assigning any commission rates. The
commission
amount that is assigned to a hotel partner from the product sale is then
either manually
or electronically "deposited" into that particular hotel partner's "accounts
payable"
account which will be held there for 90 days until after the product has
shipped. Once
this wait period is over (which is to account for any potential returns of the
product),
the commission amount is then moved from being in a "hold" condition to a"pay"
condition and a payment is made every quarter to the hotel partners for the
amount that
has collected in their accounts payable accounts.
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5. A similar process occurs for the fourth part of the code, which identifies
which interior design firm originally placed that particular product in the
partner hotel.
In this example, this part of the product code is "0027." The system then
automatically
searches the database of interior designers to match the designer code of the
sold
product with all the identifier codes that are in the designer database to
locate the
correct design firm that is associated with this particular product sale. Once
the
designer's code has been confirmed, the system then automatically reads what
the
commission rate is for that designer and calculates the commission that design
firm has
"earned" from that product sale. The commission amount that is assigned to
this
designer is then "deposited" into their accounts payable account and will be
held there
for 90 days until after the product has shipped. Once this wait period is
over, the
commission amount is moved from being in a "hold" condition to a "pay"
condition
and every quarter each designer partner is paid the amounts that has collected
in their
accounts payable accounts.
6. The fifth part of the product code identifies which dealer, there was one,
was
involved with making the original sale of this product to the hotel.
Alternatively this
part of the code might be used to identify the marketing partner, if there is
one. In most
cases there will not have been a dealer or marketing partner involved, in
which case,
this part of the product code will read "000" as it does here in the example.
If a dealer
was involved with this product, the system will automatically search the
dealer
database to locate the correct dealer that is associated with this particular
product sale.
Once the dealer's code has been confirmed, the system then automatically reads
from
the data base, what that dealers commission rate is and calculates the
commission that
the dealer has "earned" from the product sale. As with all the other partners,
all
commissions are calculated on the basis of gross profit not the retail price
of the
product. The commission amount that is assigned to this dealer is then
electronically
"deposited" into their accounts payable account and will be held there for 90
days until
after the product has shipped. Once this wait period is over, the commission
amount is
moved from being in a "hold" condition to a "pay" condition and every quarter
the
dealer partners are paid the amounts that have collected in their respective
accounts
payable accounts.
7. There may also be a sixth part of the product code which may or may not be
used. It will be used when the product has been sold using a marketing partner
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marketing partner, like all the aforementioned partners also earns a
commissions on
each product sold, based on an agreed upon commission rate. The manner is
which this
code is assigned and operates is the same as the aforementioned
codes/partners.
OPERATING THE SYSTEM
This system is a service, a component of which is the master website that
allows
users to see very detailed photos of hotel rooms, lobbies, restaurants etc. as
well as
individual photos of each decorative accessory and piece of furniture that are
in each of
these rooms
Photographs of all the products that are available for sale from a particular
hotel
as well as photos of all the rooms where the products can be found will be
taken and
made accessible to users through the master website as well as through each of
the
hotel partners web site in a special section designated for home decor
shopping. The
website will show all the photos from all of the hotel partners while each
hotel's
website will have a direct link to only those photos from each of their
respective hotels.
And while all the products for sale can be viewed from each of the partners'
website,
any and all purchases of these products will be transacted and processed
through one
centralized location - the master website.
The system includes a web-based ecommerce engine that tracks each sales
transaction through the master website using a methodology which provides a
series of
codes that identify each specific product so that as a product is purchased,
an
ecommerce engine can automatically determine the gross profit margin from that
particular sale and can then automatically determine the correct sales
commission to be
paid on that product to the correct hotel partner - where the product is
found, the
correct interior design partner who placed the product in the hotel and the
correct dealer
(if there is one).
The system has been designed to maintain a database of all hotels, designers,
dealers, and marketing partners and assigns each a particular code and
specific
commission rate to be paid to each of them (that can be changed whenever
needed).
Thus, whenever a product sale occurs, the system automatically recognizes the
part of
the product code which identifies which hotel the product came from and the
part of the
code which identifies which interior designer placed it there (as well as the
dealer
and/or marketing partner). The assignment of commissions will happen in real
time and
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the system will cumulatively track and calculate the amount of sales
commissions that
are due to each hotel and interior design partners and after a waiting period
(to account
for any returns), commission payments will be made to the partners.
The web-based solution will also be the centralized database for collecting
and
analyzing all the consumer purchases made on a website which will thus provide
data
that will facilitate cross marketing for partners and for other third parties.
Not only will
the master website be the location for all sales transactions, it will also be
a portal
featuring other information on furniture, design and travel and will even
allow users to
make direct hotel or restaurant reservation at any of the partner hotels.
How the Consumer "uses" the system
Figure 6 illustrates the four primary ways that consumers will most frequently
use to the system. These four main processes are:
Process A- Consumer stays at the hotel, finds out that the items are for sale,
initiates their search at the partner hotel's website and makes a purchase.
Process B- Consumer visits the master website or a marketing partners web
site, finds something they would like to purchase, visits the hotel to
experience the
item(s) and then makes a purchase through either the hotel website, the
marketing
partner website or the master website.
Process C Consumer initiates search while visiting a partner hotel's website
to
make a reservation and while doing so, finds that the hotel products are for
sale and
subsequently a product purchase either before or after experiencing the hotel
first.
Process D Consumer visits either a partner hotel's website, the master website
or a marketing partner's website - and then buy directly from one of these
website
without experiencing the hotel or the products first.
Process A: Consumer starts at a partner hotel
1. A consumer is a guest at one of the partner hotels and identifies a
product(s)
they would like to purchase for their own home. The consumer then visits the
hotel's
website Figure 4 (a) illustrates a sample screen shot) where they will find a
button that
says "shop for home" on the homepage of the hotel's website.
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2. The consumer clicks on the "shop for home" button which takes the user to
the shopping site that has been created for that specific hotel . Figure 4 (b)
illustrates a
sample screen shot of this.
3. The consumer then conducts their search. If they were searching for a piece
of home furnishings they have a number of pathways to select from. One such
pathway/search is illustrated in Figure 4 (c) which is a sample screen shot of
what the
user experiences they have refined their search options.
4. The user is then prompted to make another choice to further refine their
search. For example if they were searching for furniture they will be asked to
specify
what type of furniture and would be provided with a number of word and visual
prompts on the next page of the website from which they must select one.
Figure 4 (d)
illustrates a sample screen shot of this.
5. The user is then taken to a web page that contains images of all the
products
that available for sale in the product category that they had selected (e.g.
chairs). Figure
4(e) illustrates a sample screen shot of this.
6. The user then clicks on one of these images which then takes them to the
product description page. Figure 4(f) illustrates a sample screen shot of
this.
7. The user is provided with a number of prompts on this new website page
from which the user can see the product from different angles/perspectives.
Figure 4(g)
illustrates a sample screen shot of this.
8. Another one of the many prompts allows the user to view the product in
question is the "In room views" which shows the room(s) where the product is
found in
at the hotel. Figure 4 (h) illustrates a sample screen shot of this.
9. If the user chooses to purchase the product, they are prompted by a button
on
the product information page that takes them to the shopping cart and the
transaction is
processed.
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Process B: Consumer makes purchase by starting at the master website or
a marketing partner's website
1. As shown in Fig. 5(a), a consumer visits the master website or a marketing
partner's website.
2. As shown in Fig. 5(b), the consumer decides to use the "style by search"
pathway option.
3. As shown in Fig. 5(c), the consumer selects the style choice they are most
interested in (e.g. contemporary) and are then prompted to select either
contemporary
hotels, contemporary rooms or contemporary products.
4. As shown in Fig. 5(d), if the consumer selected the contemporary "rooms"
option, the next webpage will show all of the rooms that the system has
identified as
"contemporary.
5. As shown in Fig. 5(e), the consumer can then chose to refine their search
according to one of many "types" of contemporary rooms (e.g. bedrooms, dining
rooms
etc).
6. As shown in Fig. 5(f), the user then clicks on the bedroom of their choice
where they are taken to a "Room View" which provides a larger view of that
room and
the individual products that are for sale in that room. Additionally when the
user moves
their cursor over the room image, the prices of the various items that are for
sale in that
image pop up on the screen. Also on this "Room View" page, the user will be
able to
select from many other buttons that either show a larger image of this room,
or show
them other angles and images of this room, or link them to a page that
describes the
interior designer who created this room etc..
7. As shown in Fig. 5(g),the user clicks on one of the product images found on
the "view room" page and are linked to the product description page for that
product.
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8. The user may then decide they really do love that particular product but
want
to experience it before purchasing it so they make a reservation at the hotel
to
"experience' the product first hand.
9. The consumer then stays at the hotel, experiences the product and confirms
that they want to purchase the product.
10. As shown in Fig. 5(h), the consumer comes back to either the website or
the
partner's website, finds the product, puts it into their shopping cart to
finalize their
purchase.
Process C: Consumer starts at a partner hotel's website to make a
reservation and while doing so, finds that the hotel products are for sale and
makes product purchases either before or after experiencing the hotel first
1. A consumer visits a partner hotel's "shop for home" section of their
website
or visits the master Hoteluxury at Home website
2. The consumer does a variety of searches through the website shopping
databases and finds a product that they would love to have in their home.
3. The consumer clicks on the product image to see what it looks like in one
of
the room images and as with all room images, they see which room at the hotel
it came
from
4. The consumer decides that they really do love that particular product and
makes a reservation at the hotel to "experience' the product first hand.
5. The consumer stays at the hotel, experiences the product and confirms that
they want to purchase the product.
6. The consumer comes back to the partner hotel's website or the master
Hoteluxuy at Home website, finds the product, and purchases it.
Process D: Consumer starts at either a partner hotel's website or the
master website or a marketing partners website and then buy directly without
experiencing it first.
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1. A consumer visits either the master Hoteluxury at Home website or the "shop
for home" section at a partner hotel's website or a marketing partner's
website.
2. The consumer does a number of searches for products and find one or more
that they like.
3. While the consumer would like to try out the products first hand at the
hotel
where they are based, they don't have the time or they are confident that they
will be
satisfied with their purchase without testing the product first hand.
4. The consumer puts the product(s) into their shopping cart and purchases it
with their credit card.
As shown in Fig. 9, the following describes how the system processes
orders:
1. The consumer is prompted one or more times to initial that they realize the
product is non returnable if the product is a custom order.
2. The consumer receives an email confirming their order, is given an order
number and may be told how to check the status of their order online.
3. The system identifies the product by its multi-part code and detennines the
manufacturer, the SKU and the gross margin of the product.
4. The system then checks the database of partners to determine what
commissions to pay to the hotel partner, interior design partner and dealer
partner (if
there was one for that product) and/or the marketing partner. The system
calculates
these commission amounts using the gross margin that was automatically
calculated.
5. The system then detennines the appropriate commission amount for each of
these partners which is allocated to their respective accounts payable (the
commissions
move into an active accounts payable 90 days after the product has been
shipped in
case the product is returned).
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6. The system then recognizes the part of the product code that identifies
which
manufacturer the product is from and pulls their contact information from the
manufacturer database.
7. The system then identifies the part of the product code which identifies
which
SKU from that manufacturer the product actually is and delivers the order for
that SKU
to the manufacturer via the internet.
8. The manufacturer sends us back a confirmation for the order and confirms
1o the details of the order including the price and shipping time.
9. Once the confirmation has been received , funds are provided to the
manufacturer equal to the amount of half the wholesale price of the product to
the
manufacturer so that the order can begin being processed by them.
10. Once the product is ready to be shipped, notification is provided by the
manufacturer at which time the shipping and warehousing agents are contacted
with the
customer information (address, phone etc).
11. The customer service department then calls the customer to advise them
their product is ready for shipping and that a shipping agent will be calling
them to
arrange a delivery location and date.
12. The shipping and warehousing agent then contact the customer to arrange
for a delivery date.
13. The shipping and warehousing agent arrange a date for pickup of the
product from the manufacturer and provide the system with the details
regarding
product pick up and customer delivery.
14. The date the product is to be released by the manufacturer to the shipper
is
the date that payment is issued for any remaining funds to the manufacturer.
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15. The date the product is to be released by the manufacturer to the shipper
is
the date shipping fees are provided to the shipper.
16. The date after the product is shipped, the customer service department
contacts the customer to ensure their satisfaction and to ask other customer
service
questions.
17. One month after the product has been shipped to the customer, the system
sends out a thank you email to the customer along with a promotional offer
from the
hotel where the product that was purchased had originally come from.
18. Six months after the product has been shipped to the customer, the system
sends to each customer, a promotional email offer from the hotel where the
product was
purchased from.
19. Twelve months after the product has been shipped to the customer the
system sends out another promotional offer.
Two years after the product has shipped to the customer the system sends out
2o another promotional offer.
In terms of how a user will "operate" within the website, the system has been
designed so that the master website, and the shopping sites found on any
partner hotel
sites or any marketing partner sites will have virtually all the same prompts,
buttons,
layout and navigational choices so that the networked system can work
seamlessly
together. Conceptually, the master website is the hub and consolidation of all
partner
hotel's "shop for decor" sites.. Some of these navigational choices include
but are not
limited to: a) searching for products at a particular partner hotel (which
will be listed
both alphabetically or by city: b) searching for products at more than one
hotel at a
time; c) searching for products according to one or more feature at a time
such as by
product style (contemporary, traditional etc), by room type (bedroom, bathroom
etc),
by product type (electronics, furniture, lighting etc) by price point ($500 -
$1,000 etc).
Once the first level of search has been done according to one of these
particular
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navigational features, that search can be further refined by any of the
remaining search
choices not yet used, which will allow the user to narrowly define and find
what they
are looking for through a hierarchy of increasingly narrower parameters.
Each product search that a user performs on the website will retrieve images
of
particular products and when the image of this particular product is double
clicked a
second image will pop up that shows that particular product in the room
setting of the
hotel where it is found. And discreetly noted below every room image will be
the name
of the hotel where the room is from. This ability to toggle between a single
image of a
product and an image of the product in context of a real room where the
product is
found is a component of the system. It delivers a much more robust
understanding of
what each product looks in a real setting and also confirms for the user that
the product
they are interested in purchasing is indeed the same product they may have
seen
recently in a particular hotel room. Furthermore at any time, the user can
double click
on the hotel name that is below every room image and they will be immediately
taken
to the section of the website that shows all of the rooms of that hotel. The
system
provides users with images that closely approximate the "room experience" and
which
can "toggle" with all the images of the individual products that are for sale
in that
room.
Similarly, when a user initiates a search on the website using a specific room
or
a specific hotel as the primary search criteria, when the resulting room image
is served
up on the website and the user clicks on it, all the images of the individual
products that
are available for sale in that room will appear on the screen to the right of
the room
image (or on a subsequent screen) along with all of the specifications and
prices for
each of these individual pieces. At this time, the user will also be provided
with a
prompt that will allow them to "purchase the entire room" with a single
"click". When
they click on this "purchase the entire room button" all of the products that
are for sale
in that room are immediately moved into their shopping cart, shipping costs
etc. are
calculated after which the user can make payment and check out. This "one
click
option" will allow those with very little time but a strong interest in
duplicating the
complete "look" of an entire room with a very easy purchasing process.
Alternatively
when the individual pieces appear on the screen beside any room image, users
can
delete those specific pieces they are not interested in purchasing and at any
point can
move any remaining or all individual pieces to their shopping cart for
purchase (or at
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any time they can move the individual product images as well as the room
images to
their "design portfolio" for consideration another time)..
Process by which a Hotel becomes a Partner to use the system
Referring to Figure 7, the process and individual steps by which a hotel
partner
becomes part of the system is shown.
1. conduct (optional) exit survey at hotel with at least 100 guests to
determine whether they would be interested in purchasing the hotels
furniture and other products
2. if yes, sign contract with hotel who also introduces their designer(s)
3. work with the hotel's designer(s) to source names of all vendors for all
furniture and decorative accessories in the hotel
4. contact each vendor to get vendor agreement which confirms their prices
and delivery times
5. aim for 75% of all vendors agreement to proceed
6. begin photographing hotel rooms and individual pieces of furniture for
sale
7. write copy for each piece of furniture and accessories, load onto master
website and hotel "template site"
8. create in-room and in-hotel collateral (stand up cards, postcards,
potentially mini catalogue)
9. train hotel staff on concept and how to respond to questions
10. test site with test cases
11. launch master site and hotel's "shop for decor" site- soft launch
12. test marketing programs and help hotel to promote the new e-retail
service
13. roll out pr for hotel and its new furniture purchasing service
The timeline for the above is as follows:
1. Agreement in principle with each hotel - 1 week (cumulative 1 week)
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2. Exit Survey& Analysis of Results - 2 weeks (cumulative 3 weeks)
3. Sign hotel contract - 1 week (cumulative 4 weeks)
4. Work with designers to source vendor names - 2 weeks (cumulative 6
weeks)
5. Contact each manufacturer to agree to work with us 4 weeks
(cumulative 10 weeks)
6. Photograph hotel rooms and furniture - 2 weeks (cumulative 12 weeks)
7. Write copy for furniture and load onto master website and hotel web
template - 4 weeks (cumulative 16 weeks)
8. Create in-hotel and in-room collateral - 4 weeks (done at the same time
as stage - cumulative 16 weeks)
9. Train hotel staff on concept and how to respond to questions - 1 week
(cumulative 17 weeks)
10 Test site with test cases to get rid of problems- 4 weeks (cumulative 21
weeks
11. Soft launch of Master site and hotels template site.
Total timeline: 5%z months to create and launch each hotel partner
With respect to the above mentioned description then, it is to be realized
that the
optimum and dimensional relationships for the parts of the system/invention ,
to
include variations in size, content, materials, shape, form, function,
priority,
application, process, partners, products and manner of operation, assembly and
use , are
deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all
equivalent
relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the
specification are
intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles
of
the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily
occur to
those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the
exact construction
and operation shown and described accordingly, all suitable modifications and
equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
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